The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-08-11

and finally. in great wrath, with burning
cheeks and flashing eyes, flung the mis-
sive on the floor. .-,, .... sr I
"The coward |" she cried. s.i sss
Read this, Mr.. Skelton," continued
Miss Williams picking the letter up and
handing it to him. "It is addressed to
you, You know" s- ...a ~ asa L..
David SHELTON took the sheets and read
words that were already tolerably ia
mlllar to him, since he had written them
with his own hand that morning 10 his
room; with the omission of date, sigma
ture, and, useless verbiage, the letter was
as follows; Pr =
Jonathan Wooster was drummed out
of the army in disgrace the day after the
tight at Culpeppcr G. H. In going into
! battle, he displayed such total want Of
bravery, hiding behind fences, trees, or
anything serviceable, that / was obliged
TO order two stalwart men to drag him to
the front. When however, the rebel bull.
lets began to whistle about his ears, be
gave fearful Shrek that .eould II, heard
above the din OF battle, broke awav from
those holding him, and bolted to the rear,
where he was found by some of the Sew
entecnth Ohio lying in ditch and groan-
lag terribly. When they asked him what
the matter was, he whimpered that his
left leg was shattered by a cannon-ball,
but gave the lie to his statement the next
minute. A shell struck near the valiant
Jonathan, and he got up and ran like a
deer until some of the soldiers captured
him. We court-martialed him, and he
was condemned to death but General
M, who is of very humane DISPOSE
tion, commuted his sentences to ignomini-
ous dismissal from the service Since then
| neither know nor care what has become
of him."
Such was the unbIushing forgery which
had poisoned the poor girl's mind against
her absent lover; forgery that Adelaide
might have easily detected, had sh- con-
sidered the matter for few minutes /;
but she was just then in no mood for
consideration she angrily tore off the
engagement ring from her finger and flung
it into the we'll which stood near the open
sitting room window.
SO PERISH" she exclaimed, "every tie
that binds me to a base poltroon %
And then, just like woman, she burst
into tears and left the room.
Dave Shelton, as soon as she was out
OF ear-shot, gave utterance to a very dis
| tinct chuckle.
All, Dave, you're lucky man. Now
| to be old man Williams son-in-law. not
forgetting the tin in the bank, by the
way; I'll have his ducats and his daugh-
ter as Shylock said, though I guess the
old gent, like myself, cared more for the
ducats than anything else"
He had spoken the last words aloud,
and, turning his head, was aghast at be-
holding" old man Williams :" right be-
hind him.
"Eh? What did you say ?" asked the
farmer, who was somewhat hard of hear
ing. 81 only remarked that it was an
exceedingly fine morning."
ooh, yes, j guess Pll be getting in
some Of that hay while ths am shnes. {"
The old gentleman was gone and Da-
vid Shelton congratulated himself on his
narrow escape, muttering soto voce :
"And i must make hay, too, while the
iron is hot, as the Irishmau said" ais. :
Adelaide Williams faith in Jonathan
Wooster was utterly crushed, and it was
soon understood in the little town that
another knight might try his fortune in
Cupid's tournament to win the place in
her affections of which Jonathan was pos
sessed. 'V
David Shelton of course profited by his
residence at the Williams to urge his
attentions upon the prospective heiress.
They seemed to be somewhat more favor
ably received than before Adelaide was
thoroughly incensed at the recreant JON
athan, and determined to spite him, that
when he returned he should find her the
wife Of another.
And so it happened that as the dead
leaves began to fall from the trees, and
the season set in which our poets erro.
neously call the saddest Of the year."
the fact became known that the well
dressed, dashing Philadelphian was the
accepted lover of Miss Adelaide Williams,
and the heir apparent, so to speak, to the
snug little sum which his prospective
father-in-law had to his credit in the Ro-
reston bank. There was some grumbling
among Miss Williams Belleville ad-
mrers, aud they were legion-but who
can resist fate? .... ....- s -.f ,si ia.
The months rolled by, and winter COW
cred the hills with snow and the ponds
with ice. In the, semi mountainous ,coun-
try where the town of Belleyille is situr
ated, there are many places for coasting,
rivaling in this respect the hillsides OF
Vermont and New Hampshire On one
of these slopes, starting at the elevated
site of the Williams farm, a sled could
with ease glide several miles, only coming
to stahdstill in the main street of the
town, in front of the post office. To this
slide the young people Of the town re-
sorted, as was natural, in large numbe
and the hill was vocal with merry laugh
ter, sometimes till even late at night.
The deadly double-ripper carried down
it's parties Of swains and sweethearts with
a rapidity that fairly took away the
breath; the toboggan' was as yet far in
On a bright, sunshiny day in Decem-
Der, when the snowy covering Of the hills
was dazzling in it's whiteness, an u nu-
sually large number of pleasureiseekers
came to the we'll known coasting ground.
For some hours they enjoyed d'the sport,
until some of the more adventurous, 10
heighten the, fun, proposed to bring out
an old sleigh, now abiding in we'll earned
retiren1ent, in Mr.. J.iWilliams' barn.
al The owners consent was readily OBJ
tsined aud it was soon dragged by will
fni, hands to the hilltop. ~ f''s ussjos
lsi IT. ewss q large, old-fashioned vehicle,
:I.1.r of .,.;,t for Of least a pon Grafton